African trypanosomiasis, also known as “sleeping sickness” in humans and “nagana” in animals, is a serious parasitic disease that if left untreated is almost always fatal. The disease, spread by the bite of tsetse flies, occurs in 36 countries of sub-Saharan Africa and is reaching epidemic proportions. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are an estimated 40,000 newly infected people each year with mortality rates reaching more than 66,000 and increasing. The social and economic impact of this disease is even more devastating because it is equally fatal to humans and animals. In Africa, the wide occurrence of trypanosomiasis in both humans and livestock is a great constraint to development, particularly in rural areas. The situation is worsened by the direct impact of nagana on agriculture and food supply in sub-Saharan Africa. Millions of hectares of land cannot be economically exploited because of human and animal African trypanosomiasis. High mortality in cattle has a significant impact on milk and meat production. For example, tsetse-free-areas produce 83% more milk and 97% more meat per unit of land than tsetse-infested areas. The economic losses in cattle production alone are in the range of US$1.2 billion with total agricultural Gross Domestic Product losses approaching an estimated US$5 billion per annum. In an area that is already suffering from poor economy and almost non-existing medical infrastructure, the burden of this disease becomes even more devastating with significant local and regional impact. Currently there is no vaccine available to prevent this disease.
Thus, there is a need to provide sources of vaccines and antigens for production of vaccines. Improved vaccine design and development, as well as methods of making and using such compositions of matter are needed which provide inexpensive and highly accessible sources of such therapeutic and/or prophylactic compositions.